Little Hell
by starpuke
Summary: Craig, the most stoic guy in the whole school has a limit too. Of course he didn't give a shit about anything as a kid, but now he has problems. Real problems. He breaks down for the first time in forever in a public bathroom. Aka I want something angsty but fluffy bc I can't find anything that isn't smut for this ship.
1. Chapter 1

Well, you could say that Craig Tucker's life is going downhill quite fast. First, his father lost his job. Then, his sister started hanging out with what he considers to be "the wrong crowd". And somehow, she's being even bitchier than usual. He's falling behind with school and is often in detention. That was the final straw for his parents relationship, as they're fighting basically daily. They keep blaming each other for their kids failures, and Craig can hear their yelling way too easily.  
And of course, he has daily existential crises. He goes to school ( almost) every day, looking as smug and deadpan as usual, with his usual witty comebacks and general rudeness. It's getting hard to hide how fucked up he feels for so many hours a day, for so many days a week.

This morning Craig has less will to leave the house than usual. And it's a bold thing to say, as it usually is around 0%.  
He turns around, still wrapped in his cozy blanket, and looks at his phone.  
6:15 AM.  
His notifications are blowing up from all the texts he's gotten during the night. Not that anyone actually cares about him, but he recently got added to a group chat with Stan and his friends, and they just never shut the fuck up at any hour of the day. He quickly mutes the chat.  
He evaluates if he should just stay in bed. To be honest, he doesn't want to see anyone today. But if he skips school, he'd probably get in trouble and he really doesn't need to add more problems to his situation.  
With heavy steps, he finally drags himself out the bed and decides that he's going to school today. He really can't afford to miss anymore lessons. He can handle this; he's been doing that for years now.

The cold water splashes his face, finally bringing him down to earth.  
"Man up, Craig."  
Jeez, is he really talking to himself on the mirror? Maybe he's actually going insane like the rest of his family.  
He really does look like shit, today. He doesn't particularly like himself usually, but this morning he really does despise his reflection. Maybe it's because of the bags under his eyes after months of not really sleeping that well because of his parents screaming and his sister randomly disappearing for days. And his hair being messier than usual. He hasn't gotten an hair cut in a while. Doesn't really have money to spend on that. And his face generally not being stoic anymore, but troubled, more than anything.

"Hurry up, asshole. You're not the only one living here! "  
Tricia's voice and the loud bang on the bathroom door interrupts his head from listing all the things he finds wrong about himself. He hopes she didn't wake their parents up and finishes to wash his teeth.

Whatever. He doesn't give a fuck of what anyone thinks . He's going to school today, and if anyone starts being too nosey he won't have a problem picking a fight.  
Or at least that's what he says to himself.  
-

As soon as he sees the people he's supposed to be friends with, he regrets his decision.  
"What the fuck do you mean the holocaust didn't happen?! You ignorant fuck!" Kyle is yelling at Cartman in front of the school. Luckily everyone is used to this shit every morning.  
"I'm just saying. Don't you think that 6 million people are way too many for it to be real?"  
The redhead jumps at the Eric's neck, who's way stronger than him anyway. Craig could swear that he saw a chunk of red curls flying off at some point. He cringes. Stan is trying to stop them... And failing of course.

Craig really doesn't know how he ended up getting into this "friendship" , to be honest. They just started inviting his group, Clyde and the others, to hang out with them and then added them to their group chat, and that apparently meant that they were now friends. Bullshit. They are acquaintances, maybe.  
His thinking blurs out all the background screaming, until his presence is finally noticed.  
The two enemies stop fighting for a moment.  
Apparently Craig is not the only one who thinks he looks worse than usual today.  
"Ow~" Cartman fakes a pitiful voice, after examining his face for some seconds.  
"Is Craig having his period...? He looks miserable."  
Stan and Kyle start laughing.  
"Should- should we bring some painkillers? Some tampons?" Carman is laughing so hard he can barely finish his sentence.

He clenches his fist and decided that he doesn't want to do this today. He doesn't want to get into detention again and he really doesn't need to disappoint his parents anymore than he already did. He knows that Cartman is an insufferable asshole and nobody of those three losers actually mean to hurt him. It's just their way of joking around, but Craig has never been a fan of jokes. Especially if he's the butt of it. He flips them out and walks away, going to class.

Craig always liked biology, but lately it started to bore him like all the other subjects. He zones out listening to the ticking of the clock until he hears the buzzing of his phone.

"Have you seen Tricia today? Apparently she's not in school."

It's his father.  
He wonders where the fuck his sister may have ended up this time. He wouldn't be surprised if she just ran away from home for good one day.  
He really does despise her, it's like she's trying her best to make the situation worse than it is.  
And why would Craig know where Tricia was? It's not like she was going to tell him.

"Saw her this morning. Didn't talk to-"

Suddenly a strict voice interrupts him and he remembers that he's actually in class.

"Tucker? Are you on your phone?"  
Craig mutters a "fuck" under his breath, that's apparently audible enough to earn him some more time in detention.  
He walks out of the class. He may as well have beat the shit out of Cartman this morning, if he knew he'd get in detention anyways.

"Fuck Tricia, to be honest."  
Craig is pulling on the strings of his hat, he's shaking slightly and muttering. He's looking at himself in the bathroom's mirror. It's so filthy, it makes him look even worse.  
"Fuck her and fuck our parents for acting like this."  
He doesn't think he ever felt this much anger before. This day started badly, and he's already so stressed and he feels like he's a time bomb who could explode at any minute. He sighs, looking at the same shoes he's been wearing for years.  
"And not only we are a shitty family, we are also broke now. Fuck this"

Speaking of broke, Kenny Mccormick walks in. Weird, Craig didn't see him this morning. He hopes he didn't hear him talking to himself like a madman. He starts to think he should be in a psychologist office, not having to spend time in detention.  
" 'sup. Here to wash my hands" Kenny greets innocently enough.  
Craig looks at him through the mirror, and the blonde can't help but notice how he keeps looking more and more drained as the days go by.  
"Dude, are you okay?"  
And just like that, Craig explodes. Not in an anger outburst, like he imagined. Instead, he starts to cry for the first time since he was probably an infant. In a public bathroom, while someone who's supposed to be his friend but is actually more like a stranger is looking at him.  
The situation is so humiliating that he just ends up crying even more.  
Kenny is as shocked as the other is, and really isn't that good with comforting people. And he knows that if something made Craig Tucker, out of all people, cry it's not something he can really be cheered up about. He tries to pull him in a hug, making everything even more awkward because Craig is taller than him to he just ends up sobbing in his ear.  
"Everything is okay, it's going to be okay."  
He pats his back, like he's trying to comfort a crying child, except the child is actually the least emotional 17 years old in the whole school and he's sobbing in his arms for some unknown reason.  
Craig can't deny the fact that Kenny's hand on his back feels quite comforting. Suddenly the taller boy separates himself from Kenny and takes a piece of paper to dry his tears. His face is flushed, his eyes kind of puffy.  
"If you ever tell someone about this, you're dead."  
"How much will you pay me for my silence?"  
Craig answers with a harsh stare.  
"I'm kidding, I'm not a snitch." The blonde answers quickly. Crazy how the taller boy got an attitude even after crying in his arms "you're lucky that I'm not Cartman."  
Saying that, Kenny lights up a cigarette and looks at Craig, who just finished washing his face and trying to make himself look almost presentable again. And avoiding the thought of the terrifying possibility of Cartman entering that bathroom instead of Kenny. He can imagine the blackmailing he'd be going through.  
"Aren't we supposed to be in detention?" Craig asks, matter-of-factly.  
"Ugh, we could skip it. If you want."  
"Yeah. I'd like to."  
The blonde lets out a mischievous smile, and they leave from one of the fire exits. The teachers aren't paid enough to care anyway.


	2. Chapter 2

The cold air hits Craig's skin as soon as they leave. His face feels even more sensitive to the cold after crying, apparently. He doesn't know where they're going, but he keeps following the other guy.

"Dude, that was so fucking gay."  
Kenny suddenly interrupts the sound of their steps on the snow, chuckling. He turns his head to look at Craig, who made a weird face at that remark. The blonde doesn't really know how to interpret it but he guesses he said the wrong thing. Well, every thing you say is the wrong thing when you're talking to Craig Tucker.  
"I don't mean it's a bad thing. I guess I just wasn't expecting it from you, you know? You're always so cold, and so serious, and you just don't give a fuck about anything, and-"

Alright, when the fuck did Kenny become so talkative?

"Dude, I got it." Craig silences him.  
"You're just looking for more words to call me an asshole."

Kenny snorts. "I guess I am. You can't deny that you are one, though."

The noirette doesn't really deem himself an asshole. He just doesn't care about that much about stuff that isn't important.  
A middle finger is the only answer Kenny gets from Craig. Not really satisfying.  
Still, the blonde keeps trying to break the silence that the noirette likes too much.

"You smoke?" The blonde waves the pack in front of his face.  
"No. Not really." Craig keeps looking in from of him, without glancing at the blonde. His hands are his pockets and his walking is a bit faster than the other.  
"Does smoke bother you?" Kenny puts the cigarettes back in his pocket, and looks at the one he's about to finish.  
"My parents are smokers. I'm used to it."  
"Ever tried?"  
"Is this an interrogation?" His tone is annoyed now.  
"I guess. I'm just curious. Now that I've seen that you have more feelings other than disappointment for the human race, I'd like to know more about you." He takes one last drag of cigarette and throws it on the ground.

Soo.. Is Kenny saying that he'd like to know him as a person? That's a bit weird.

"Like, have you ever laughed in your life?" The blonde asks, without even an hint of sarcasm in his voice. Craig actually turns around to look at him for once.  
"This is the dumbest question I've ever been asked. Of course I do laugh. Every morning, in fact."  
Kenny appears to be a bit too interested in his answer.  
"Every morning, as soon as I see your ugly face in school." He says in his usual monotone voice. Alright, maybe the noirette doesn't actually hate jokes that much (when he's the one making them).  
Kenny starts to laugh. At least he doesn't lack a sense of humor, unlike Craig.

"I can't believe you're treating me like this... after everything I've done for you." The blonde whines, jokingly.  
"That is?" Craig scoffs. Probably the most emotional reaction Kenny has gotten in this whole conversation.  
"Dude, I saved your life 10 minutes ago in the bathroom. You should remember that if I didn't get here before anyone else, your reputation would be in big trouble."  
"Are you going to hold that against me forever?"  
"Maybe." He replies, shrugging.

As soon as they finish talking, the two finally arrive at a fast food. They both get a soda, the cheapest thing on the menu. Kenny is the one paying for both of them.  
"Consider this a gift to cheer you up." he says, as they sit at the table furthest in the back. For once he has a genuine smile on his face instead of a grin.  
The noirette keeps an emotionless expression and mutters a simple "Thanks". Secretely, he really appreciates the blonde buying him food even if he's got even less money than him.

Craig can feel Kenny's eyes on him as he's drinking his soda. Suddenly he starts to find the wood patterns on the table really interesting and keeps staring at them, avoiding eye contact with the other guy at any cost. He'd like to say that he doesn't care about it, but he's not used to people examining him like that. He's usually the one studying other people. His grip to the cup thightens and he's suddenly more aware of his skin and his movements and he _despises_ this feeling.

Meanwhile Kenny is just thinking about the fact that he has never spent any time alone with Craig. The blonde has never been so interested in anyone else before. People in South Park are like an open book: everyone knows everything about everyone.  
Craig Tucker? He's an exception, barely anyone knows anything about him. Since middle school he actually started hanging around with other people less and less until Stan decided that he wanted to make one big friend group with Clyde and the others. Kenny didn't mind it that much, and he was actually a bit excited about the fact that he could maybe know something more about Craig. Of course that wasn't the case, as the noirette rarely showed up when they went out together, and he wasn't really chatty when he did.

"Sooo... What were you crying about earlier?" Kenny says before he could even think about it. His curiosity quickly took over him, again. He really wishes he wasn't this impulsive, sometimes.  
"None of your business." Craig replies, the uncomfortable feeling replaced with annoyance. He really doesn't know what the blonde expected him to answer. Not only he won't stop talking, he's also a nosey bastard. He glances at Kenny, hoping that his stare is enough for him to shut the fuck up.

"Ah, I know. It's because of a girl, isn't it?" At this point, the blonde just wants to tease him a bit.

Apparently his stare wasnt enough at all. Craig flips him off in his typical fashion.

"Come on man, I won't tell anyone. Who is she?" Kenny puts his cup on the table and leans forward, with a smug grin on his face. Now that he's closer, Craig can observe all his freckles and how long his eyelashes are. His teeth are a bit crooked and he has dirty blonde hair, quite unkept but somewhat still framing his face in a really nice way. His eyes are dark blue, with a mischevious look in them. He'd say that Kenny is quite an attractive guy, if it weren't for how much he's pissing him off.

"Did you bring me here just to annoy me? " He asks this quite hatefully. He really doesn't like the feeling of being some kind of weird science experiment to analyze.  
Kenny sinks in his seat a bit, sighing.  
"Sorry, didn't mean to piss you off."  
For a moment the noirette believes that he hears regret in his voice.  
"Even if it's not that hard to piss you off anyway..." The blonde whines, crossing his arms. He looks away with a pout on his face.  
"Are you fucking serious?" His monotone voice isn't really that monotone anymore.  
Hearing that, Kenny bursts into a laugh and looks back at Craig, his typical grin still on his face.

"No, of course I'm not." He takes back his soda and takes a sip. "That was my sad puppy face. Was it convincing?"  
"It looked more like a punchable puppy face, and I don't usually punch puppies."  
"Really? You _do_ look like the type of guy who'd use puppies as punching bags."  
"Do I?" Craig asks. Kenny could say that he sounded almost worried.  
"Hah, not really. You do look like the type of guy who'd cry in the school bathroom when nobody's looking, though."

Craig's grip on the cup thightens enough that he could break it any moment now. "oh my fucking God." he mutters under his breath, cursing the moment he thought that spending even half an hour with Kenny McCormick wouldn't end badly. He looks at the time on his phone and decides that it's time to leave.  
"Well, my parents will get worried if I don't get home soon. I hated every moment of this encounter. Bye."  
He doesn't wait for an answer and starts to leave quickly. Kenny waves at him grinning from the window, and he gets flipped off in response.  
He decides to finish the soda that Craig left behind. He paid for it anyways.

As soon as Craig's home he realizes that his sister is still missing, and his parents are nowhere to be seen. He loves the rare moments of silence he gets sometimes. He starts to think about the whole thing with Kenny and, as much as the blonde annoyed him, he didn't actually hate it as much as he said. Maybe if Kenny would just shut his mouth it'd be even better. Also, it's crazy how good looking he actually is under that parka he always wears. Craig is shocked that he didn't see that before. Now he has to re-do his whole "hottest guys of the school" list. Being gay and in the closet, that list is really the most he can do about his sexuality, since he will never come out to anyone.

He puts his bag on the ground and lays on his bed, looking outside the window. Weirdly, he doesn't feel as stressed as he did before. Maybe crying is not that bad? He starts to re-think of everything that happened today and can't help but feel weird about it, but in a good way.  
Suddenly his daydreaming gets interrupted by a bunch of notifications from his phone. Weird, since he muted the groupchat. He unlocks it to discover that Kenny has just followed him on every social media he has.  
What the fuck.  
He even found him where he didn't put his full name.  
He didn't imagine Kenny McCormick to be such an able stalker. For some reason, he doesn't hate this attention.

Meanwhile, Kenny is sitting at his desk wondering why a certain noirette didn't put a single picture of himself online. His Facebook is invaded of "happy birthdays" from his family posted in 2014, on his Instagram he only posts landscapes and pictures of the sky. Alright, they _are_ cool pictures but he really could post his face for once. Kenny sighs throwing his phone on his bed. The noirette is just _something else_ and Kenny feels attracted to him for no reason. He just wants to know more about him, and spend more time with him and be his friend. It's not a lot to ask, is it?  
A notification from his phone surprises him.

_ _ started following you_  
So he throws his phone on the bed, stopping himself from getting too excited about it.  
The fact that he followed him back means that not only he didn't block him immediately, but he actually took a liking to him! Or maybe he's overthinking stuff again. Whatever, a huge smile forms on his face, and as stupid he looks right now, he can't get that expression to go away.


End file.
